Monday, August 13, 2012

Musings: Absolutely Safe

After seeing shooting stars and planets aligned with a crescent moon for a couple of mornings running, today I was greeted with clouds, though I wasn't disappointed, because they turned a delightful salmon color as they bumped into one another atop the summit of Waialeale.

Seems we keep bumping up against the Navy and its claim to the westside shoreline. Today's
headline in The Garden Island says it all: “Citations issued for
driving on PMRF beach.”

The
local paper is now perpetuating the myth that this stretch of public beach belongs to the Navy.
And then it dutifully, and unquestioningly, regurgitates this
absolute nonsense from PMRF shill Tom Clements:

“We
are aware that some of our neighbors are concerned about beach access
fronting PMRF. PMRF and the U.S. Navy respect state and federal law
and our security personnel will continue to work with state and
county officials, observing and reporting illegal activities which
occur on the shoreline fronting PMRF.”

Actually,
Tom, our concern is with the way you guys stole five miles of public shoreline under the sham of “national security.” So if you truly
respect state law, which gives people access up to the highest
wash of the waves, then let the
citizenry use our beach.

And
since you're gonna be calling DOCARE and the cops if you see people
doing anything “illegal” on the beach, who should we call when
we see you guys blasting rockets from sacred dunes or contaminating
the ocean with your toxic chemicals or deafening sea life with sonar
or sinking ships offshore? I mean, since the Navy is so law-abiding
and all.

Speaking
of ships, I had to laugh a little when Ron Wiley posted on Facebook
the other day, wondering if that 160-foot super-yacht is appropriate
for Hanalei Bay. I wrote about the controversy back in mid-July,
prompting a friend to observe, “well, that shows you it takes about
a month for stuff to trickle out to the mainstream media.”

And
sometimes it never does.

Meanwhile,
as the military and federal government fritter away billions on the
shadowy and never-ending wars on terrorism and drugs, we've now got a
Presidential ticket that thinks the real money-wasters are all those
old people and poor people. You know, the ones who need food stamps
and Medicare and meals on wheels and Pell grants.

It's
a ticket that thinks the wealthiest individuals and multinational
corporations should pay less taxes and the poorest should pay more.
And that women should no longer have any control over their bodies:
no legal access to abortion, no funding for birth control. But
fertilized eggs, like corporations, warrant full personhood.

Just
when you think the right can't get any more wrong, they surprise you
and trot out a wacko like Paul Ryan to run with a man who is all
about perpetuating privilege for rich white boys. Ryan, a devout
Catholic, is an obviously conflicted follower of the novelist Ayn
Rand, who
“described altruism as 'evil,' condemned Christianity for
advocating compassion for the poor, viewed the feminist movement as
'phony,' and called Arabs 'almost totally primitive savages.'” I read Ayn Rand in high school, but as I matured, I saw the fatal flaws
in a system based on intense selfishness and unbridled capitalism.

Still,
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we're seeing the emergence of
the ultraconservative right as America's economy declines. Isn't that
when fascism usually takes hold?

And
across the Pacific, scientists are finding “severe abnormalities”
in butterflies exposed to the Fukushima radiation. As BBC News
reports:

By
comparing mutations found on the butterflies collected from the
different sites, the team found that areas with greater amounts of
radiation in the environment were home to butterflies with much
smaller wings and irregularly developed eyes.

"It
has been believed that insects are very resistant to radiation,"
said lead researcher Joji Otaki from the University of the Ryukyus,
Okinawa.

Six
months later, they again collected adults from the 10 sites and found
that butterflies from the Fukushima area showed a mutation rate more
than double that of those found sooner after the accident.

The
team concluded that this higher rate of mutation came from eating
contaminated food, but also from mutations of the parents' genetic
material that was passed on to the next generation, even though these
mutations were not evident in the previous generations' adult
butterflies.

Previous studies have indicated birds and butterflies are important tools to investigate the long-term impacts of radioactive contaminants in the environment.

But don't worry. Everything's fine. As the government repeatedly assures us, the fish is absolutely safe to eat.

The US military taketh; but does it giveth as well? And let's not forget that the Catholic church wrote the book on the structure of power and how to wield it. The US military/government has the power and will never relinguish it.

"Dear left wing unicorns and rainbows...Kauai is a Military base...you are just a visitor."

aint that the truth..but don't publish that in any tourism pamphlet..don't let them know that they're swimming in cyanide and bleach...you know the stuff they put on the reefs to get the fish to come out from hiding...

There's a big lack of reading comprehension today, people. We got what we've been fighting for: access to the state beaches fronting the base. That's a good measure of victory, but instead of lauding the relaxation, everybody's hauling out hoary old whipping posts on the military that might have been true in general in the past, but don't apply to the military today or to PMRF at all. How about we embrace a good neighbor that's seen it's way to doing the right thing?

Let's not forget that PMRF sits on Hawaiian Kingdom Crown lands which the state erroneously refers to as "ceded" lands. These lands were never ceded they were stolen. Today the military pays pennies to occupy this prime ocean front land and they act like they own it, the beach as well as offshore waters. What do they give in return? Restricted/off-limit access, missile launches exploding off of Ke one kani o Nohili, sonar testing and military war games that target Kaula and sink battleships in our ocean. They owe our community way more than the crumbs they throw.

This is likely to be a division in perspective that is insurmountable, but one would hope that a middle ground could be reached: one in which villainy is not automatically ascribed to one side and xenophobia or cultural absolutism assumed by the other. The landowner coup backed by the military a century ago was a dark stain on the history of the US, but the nation, the military, the world, and yes, the Hawaiian people who existed back then are not the same entities that exist today. Today, we all live as a nation, benefitting from one another, fighting our battles together, stumbling alongside one another into the future in what is generally a positive social direction. The past cannot be undone, and we cannot ignore the realities of a world which does lie under threats, threats which must be tested against and trained for to ensure all of our defense. The vast majority of military in the Hawaiian Islands treasure their time here and the bonds they forge in our communities. They don't see themselves as occupiers, and they cannot do anything about the inequities of the past. They can only follow the law and do their jobs as conscientiously, as respectfully, and as responsibly as they can. That is the reality in which we all live, not one of rapacious greed and gleeful laughter at those whose land has been taken, or warmongering and heedless destruction of the natural world. These are honorable men and women, families that treasure the Hawaiian community. Let us acknowledge that reality when we seek a common end to the issues of access and use of our beaches and lands.

Charley posted Walter's opinion on his blog! It's factually accurate and based on Walter's flawless legal analysis, so it's no wonder that Charley took the trouble to post it. Watch out, Charley, Walter might be angling for your PR job.

Driving on the beach is allowed if going fishing. It's legal to fight chickens you just can't bet or use gaffs and it's legal to ride in the back of a truck if you're over age 13. So quit shooting your mouth off.

Call DOCARE and they will tell you people can drive on the beach to and from a fishing spot. Legal Eagle, make sure you don't piss in the ocean:No person shall urinate or defecate otherthan at the place and toilet facility provided.

Re: PMRF an especially big mahalo to you.It is interesting they believe they have the authority to be de facto cops. They might want to check on who really owns that land or better yet, let them continue and place the noose around their own red necks.